


More Than a Patsy

by orderlychaos



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Sitwell, F/M, Fix-It, Jasper and Phil are BFFs, Jasper is going to fix everything, M/M, You do not mess with Agent Sitwell, You will regret it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-13 14:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/825539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orderlychaos/pseuds/orderlychaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the prompt:  "BAMF, super-competent Sitwell getting Coulson back and possibly rallying the Avengers in the process."</p><p>Phil Coulson might be dead, but Agent Jasper Sitwell is pretty sure something strange is going on.  So he investigates, figures a few things out and saves the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pyroblaze18 (kultiras)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kultiras/gifts).



> I just want to say a giant thank you to feelschat for generally being awesome about this. Thanks to kultiras for the prompt, ralkana for the help and dizmo for the title!!
> 
> This fic was also written in part because the BAMF Sitwell tag needed to be a canonised thing. Seriously, there can never be enough BAMF Sitwell :)

Agent Jasper Sitwell stared down at the blood-stained trading card in his hand and ignored the way his eyes prickled slightly with tears.  It was only one of the cards Fury had dramatically thrown in front of Captain America and Tony Stark and Jasper wasn’t even sure why he’d hidden it in his pocket when he’d seen it, because he was about fifty percent sure it wasn’t actually one of Coulson’s trading cards anyway.  Phil wasn’t the kind of guy to actually carry them around in his jacket pocket.  Hell, the first time Phil had actually shown Jasper his collection, Jasper had been convinced Phil was about three seconds away from snatching the cards back if he even  _breathed_  on them wrong.

Shit.

Phil  _had_  been.

Jasper didn’t want to remember it and he sure as hell didn’t want to  _think_  about it, but the fact was Phil Coulson was dead.  The medics had called it, Fury had announced it to Captain America and Iron Man and there was a large fucking hole where Phil Coulson usually stood.

_Agent Coulson is down._

The moment Jasper had heard those horrible words over the comm was vividly and permanently etched behind his eyelids.  He remembered drawing in a shaking breath as he stared blindly at the data and satellite feed scrolling past his screen as the bridge of the Helicarrier went deathly still for a moment around him.  The pain was like a knife and he remembered turning, shell-shocked, towards Maria Hill, only to find her staring back at him with a mix of grief and dread in her eyes.  Phil had always been damn near indestructible and Jasper had been able to see the same sense of denial in Maria’s expression that he was sure had been in his.  Grateful he’d been sitting down, Jasper had clung to the edge of his desk with white-knuckled grip for a moment as the nightmare had settled over him.  Then his training had kicked in and his analytical mind had pushed aside the storm of emotions and Jasper had gripped that numb, dissociated calm with both hands.  Muttering a prayer, he’d locked the heavy, devastating feeling of grief away in the corner of his mind and gotten back to work, because he was a fucking SHIELD agent and that’s what he did.

He’d had a fucking job to do.

Somehow, he’d held it together until the Invasion of New York was finally over and the Avengers had pulled together enough to save the day.  He’d survived watching the heartbreak Fury had tried to hide every time he turned to the space beside him, as if Phil would still be standing there.  He’d made it through the World Security Council pulling a monumentally stupid move and attempting to nuke Manhattan and he’d watched helplessly as Iron Man had saved them all by flying the nuke straight into the portal.  Part of Jasper had been selfishly angry at that; why had Tony Stark gotten to survive when Phil hadn’t?

As Jasper had watched the grief in the eyes of all the agents who’d known Phil, who’d been trained by him or been saved by him, he’d had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his mask from cracking and the tears showing.  He wanted to rage at the injustice of it all, because Phil Coulson had been one of the finest men Jasper had ever met.  Phil had been his best friend and that Asgardian  _motherfucker_  had  _killed him_.  Jasper wanted someone to hold him while he cried into their shoulder, he wanted Fury to tell him that the medics were wrong and that Phil was just fine and he really, really wanted to make Loki pay.  But he couldn’t do any of that.  Falling apart wouldn’t miraculously save Phil, so Jasper simply _didn’t_.

Instead, he thought.

The blood on the trading card was dull and rust coloured now, nowhere near the bright, dramatic red it had been.  If only Jasper’s memory of what had happened would fade so easily.  Jasper was pretty sure carrying the damn thing around in his own jacket pocket and staring at it from time to time was downright morbid and more than a little creepy; he just couldn’t help it.  Something about the whole thing was nagging at him.  He’d huffed out a cross between a laugh and a sob when he’d realized he was about to pick up the phone and call Phil so  _Phil could help him figure it out_.

He knew Maria also shared his suspicions, but when she’d confronted Fury about them, the Director had been infuriatingly tight-lipped, which really just made Jasper even more convinced something was going on.

He just had to figure out what.

*~*

Feeling restless, Jasper had headed down to the gym about an hour later, hoping a couple of rounds with the bag would help clear his head a little.  He hoped it would help his helpless feeling of anger too, because it was either that or figure out some way of breaking into Asgard so he could pummel Loki’s face.  However, about five seconds after Jasper had entered the gym, he realized he’d picked exactly the wrong moment to do it.

“…I’m mean, who did the guy think he was?  He went up against Loki alone with an untested gun from R&D.  I’m surprised that shit didn’t blow up in his face.”

Jasper didn’t actually know the name of the junior agent who was talking; all he saw was the other junior agents gathered around him, nodding along, as if  _any_  of them had the right to judge Phil Coulson.  It might have been almost a month since the Chitauri and Loki attacked, but they hadn’t even had a fucking memorial for Phil yet and Jasper wasn’t about to tolerate  _anyone_  talking like that about his best friend.  Maybe going up against Loki hadn’t been the smartest choice Phil had ever made, but that didn’t matter.  Phil had stood up when it counted and  _faced down a fucking alien_ because no one else had their shit together enough to do anything.  Phil had stood between Loki and the rest of SHIELD and tried to save the world.

 _And now this little shit was judging him for it_.

Before Jasper could think about what he was about to do, he walked up to the agent and punched him right in the face.  The agent cursed something insulting as he reeled back, before Jasper felt the agent’s fist slam into his mouth in retaliation.  He tasted blood on his tongue as he shook off the blow, too angry to really register the pain.  With a snarl, Jasper responded with a mean uppercut and followed it with a vicious kick that sent the junior agent crashing to the floor.  Jasper glared down at the junior agent as he wiped at his split lip with the back of his hand and flexed his fist.  “Next time,” Jasper growled down at the agent who was attempting to pull himself up to his hands and knees, “you might want to be  _really_  careful about what you say about Phil Coulson.”

“Hey!” another of the agents snapped, stepping forward to help his friend to his feet.  “That doesn’t give you any right to go around punching people.”

A derisive snort interrupted the angry retort on Jasper’s tongue and he turned with the rest of the junior agents to find Melinda May leaning against a training dummy, watching them.  Melinda May was a legend in her own right, despite her more recent reputation, and Jasper knew that she’d considered Phil a friend too.  “You’re lucky it was Agent Sitwell who overheard you and not anyone else,” she told the gathered junior agents.  “If it had been the Widow, I can guarantee it wouldn’t have been a fist flying towards your face.”

At Melinda’s words, several of the smarter junior agents paled.  “Just remember,” Melinda continued.  “Phil Coulson was a friend to a lot of people and  _all_  of those people are scarier than you.”

Jasper drew in a deep breath as Melinda flicked her gaze to him.  “Come on, Jasper,” she said.  “I’ll buy you a drink. You look like you could do with one.”

*~*

Instead of leading him to a bar like Jasper had expected, Melinda had simply swung by her own locker to grab a bottle of whisky before heading back to Jasper’s office.  At Jasper’s curious glance, Melinda just shrugged.  “I thought you might want the privacy,” she said softly.

Jasper figured she was probably right.  Together, they settled on the couch in the corner of Jasper’s office and Melinda poured them each a healthy amount of whiskey into two coffee mugs Jasper fetched from his desk.  After taking a large swallow and feeling the alcohol burn its way down to his stomach, Jasper closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch with a sigh.  His eyes burned with tears again, but Jasper wilfully ignored them.

“It’s okay, you know,” Melinda said quietly, bumping his shoulder reassuringly with hers.  “If you want to cry, I’m not going to judge you.”

Sighing again, Jasper blinked open his eyes and rubbed the bit of his nose underneath his glasses.  “Shit, Mel, I don’t know if I want to cry or punch something,” he said, before his lips twisted in a wry smile.  “Except, I guess I’ve already done the punching.”

He turned to look at Melinda and saw the understanding expression in her eyes; if anyone could understand what it was like to deal with demons, it was Melinda May.  “That you did,” Melinda agreed with a small smile, before her expression grew somber again.  “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I just…” Jasper said.  Then he sighed again.  “I don’t know.  There’s just something nagging me about this whole thing. I’m probably just seeing things.”

“Maybe you’re not,” Melinda said.  “Don’t underestimate yourself, Jasper.  You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.  If you think there’s something odd about Phil’s death, then maybe there really is.”

Jasper turned slightly wide eyes on her.  “I… what?” he said.

Something flashed briefly in Melinda’s eyes, before she smiled softly again.  “If something’s going on, you’ll figure it out,” she said.  “There’s a reason why Phil used to rely on you so much.  He always used to say ops were better when you were there.”

Opening and closing his mouth a few times, Jasper stared at her for a long moment.  “Thanks,” he said finally, feeling something warm curl through him at Melinda’s faith.

Melinda smiled at him again, before she moved to get up.  “I should probably leave you to your reports,” she said. “Unless you need the company?”

Jasper reached out a hand to stop her from leaving because truthfully, the company was great.  Melinda’s presence was calming and reassuring in a way that Jasper really needed right now.  “Stay, please,” he said.  “It’s only a pile of expense reports…”

Suddenly several things clicked into place in Jasper’s mind all at once and he froze, his eyes going wide.  “Son of a bitch!” he said.

Melinda’s mouth curled into a smirk.  “Figured it out, huh?”

Jasper waved a hand in her direction briefly, his mind spinning as he scrambled gracelessly off the couch.  He dumped the coffee mug on his desk and reached for the pile of expense reports sitting in his inbox, literally throwing them everywhere until he found the one he wanted.  He’d been going over them earlier, his mind not really on the details, before he’d put them aside to go over later, because he’d felt like something wasn’t adding up right.  Now he knew why.  Flipping to the second page of the report, Jasper went over the list of equipment that had been requisitioned for a small, out-of-the-way research base just after New York; a list of high-end and serious medical equipment that should not be going to a base unlikely to see field agents ever injured enough to warrant it.

Medical equipment that could potentially be used to treat someone who had  _been stabbed through the chest_.

Holding the requisition report aloft, Jasper scrabbled one-handed through another pile of reports, this one listing the shifting of SHIELD personnel that had happened over the last month.  “Jasper…” Melinda began from somewhere behind him.

“Would you hold that for a minute?” Jasper asked, holding the requisition report out behind him, still scrabbling through the other reports with one hand.

Finding what he was looking for a moment later, Jasper tugged it out of the pile with a cry of triumph and flipped it open.  He felt Melinda come up beside him, now holding the requisitions list and Jasper turned the personnel file so that she could read it too.  When Jasper found the page he wanted, he had to bite back a curse.  Melinda’s soft gasp beside him told Jasper she’d realized the same thing he had; the same small research base that suddenly had a lot of complicated medical equipment had also been assigned an elite medical team that included a  _cardiothoracic surgeon_.

And one unnamed, level-seven senior agent.

_Motherfucker._

Phil was  _alive._

Jasper immediately felt adrenaline flood his system, even as he realized that there might not be much he could do with his realization.  SHIELD was still reeling from Phil’s death and Fury would not be about to add to that uncertainty unless Phil was on the road to recovery.  Jasper had worked for SHIELD and Fury for a long time and he knew that if Fury was hiding the fact that Phil was still alive, there was a reason for it; and a bigger reason than just dealing with Stark’s over inflated ego.  As logical as that was, however, Jasper felt his brain immediately start planning infiltration strategies, because when it came right down to it, Phil was his  _best friend_  and he wasn’t about to sit around and just do nothing about this.

Looking up, Jasper gave Melinda a rebellious look.  “What do you say to a road trip?” he asked.

*~*

Just as Jasper was finishing setting aside the rest of his paperwork before he left to track down his _living_ best friend, there was a soft tap on his office door.  Turning around, Jasper found the tired and worn figure of Clint Barton standing hesitantly in the doorway.  “Clint…” Jasper said.

 Clint looked haggard and defeated in a way Jasper had never seen before, but it was the pain in his eyes that hurt Jasper worse than a physical blow.  The archer looked almost broken.  “Hey, Jasper,” Clint said, his voice hoarse and Jasper wondered if he’d been stuck in psych appointments or debriefs all day.

Jasper felt his hands clench and unclench at his sides; he felt uncoordinated and useless in the face of Clint’s obvious grief and he had no idea what to say or do that would help at all.  As much as Phil was Jasper’s best friend, so was Clint and Jasper absolutely hated to see him like this.  Clint seemed to understand that if the attempt at a shrug was any indication, before his eyes flicked to Jasper’s desk behind him.  “Heading out for the weekend?” he asked.

“You could say that,” Jasper hedged, unsure of how much of his suspicions he should tell Clint.

“Oh, well, I’ll let you get to that,” Clint said, his smile fake and brittle and doing nothing to hide the pain in his eyes.

Just before Clint turned to leave, Clint’s eyes flicked up as they always did, his gaze going to the photo Jasper kept on his bookshelf.  It was of Jasper, Clint and Phil on one of the few times they’d had a weekend free and had been able to go to the hockey together.  They were all grinning at the camera like idiots, their faces shoved together as they all tried to fit in the frame.  It had been a particularly good weekend; for once, none of them had been injured and the Rangers had won the game in a thrilling last period.  The expression in Clint’s eyes was bittersweet and so heartbreaking that Jasper just wanted to walk over and pull the archer into a hug.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Jasper said.  “Clint, you look like crap.”

Clint huffed out what Jasper guessed was an attempt at a laugh.  “Feel like it too,” he muttered.  “I just… I wanted to curl up somewhere for a bit and… Phil’s… I can’t…”

Raising a hand, Clint rubbed his face and turned away to hide his tears, his voice hitching at the end as he trailed off.  Jasper didn’t say anything, he just watched as Clint moved closer to the photo on Jasper’s shelf, his fingers stretched out almost as if he wanted to touch, before he pulled his hand back.  “Guess I finally ran out of time, huh?” he said quietly, his tone thick with grief and longing.  He looked back over his shoulder at Jasper, his blue eyes haunted.  “I should have told him everything like you said.”

Jasper felt his eyes burn again; Clint had been in love with Phil for years and Jasper had been trying for a while to get Clint to admit his feelings to the other agent.  Now that knowledge sat heavy in Jasper’s chest.  He watched Clint shuffle over to the chair in front of Jasper’s desk and drop into it.  He stuck his head almost between his knees as he shoved his fingers into his hair and cursed under his breath.

“Clint…” Jasper said.  “What if I said I could give you another chance?  What if…”

Clint looked up and Jasper could see the equal parts of hope and despair warring in his eyes.  “Jasper, I can’t…” he said.  “You can’t…”

Jasper knew that Clint didn’t want to give into the hope Jasper was giving him, because if he gave in and that hope was destroyed, it would crush him in a way he couldn’t come back from.  Jasper also knew that Clint didn’t want to give up on Phil because he loved Phil too much and Jasper could feel the weight of everything unspoken hanging in the air.

“You don’t have to believe me,” Jasper whispered, hating the way the normally composed and confident archer looked so broken.  “Just give me a chance to prove it.”

“How?” Clint choked out.  “Phil’s _dead_.”

Jasper took a deep breath and let it out slowly, looking Clint straight in the eye.  “I don’t think he is,” he said, before he gave Clint a shaky smile.  “Phil is the closest humans will ever get to indestructible.  An alien with a god-complex does not take down Phil fucking Coulson.  Being stabbed just pisses him off.”

The jokes were weak and not really all that funny, but Jasper saw the corners of Clint’s mouth quirk into a small smile all the same.  “Stark wants to have a private memorial for Phil,” Clint whispered brokenly.  “Nat said I should make a speech or something, but what the fuck should I say?”

Letting out a breath, Jasper tried to give Clint a reassuring smile, but he was pretty sure it just looked like a grimace.  “Just say everything you wish you could tell Phil if he was standing at the back of the room,” he suggested.

Clint sat up a bit at that, before raking a hand through his hair.  “What, that I’m in love with him?  And that I miss him so _fucking_ much?” he said, his mouth curving into an expression that wasn’t even remotely happy.  “That going up against Loki was a fucking stupid thing to do, but I forgive him anyway, because if it had been him that Loki had taken I would have done the same?”  He paused to close his eyes.  “I’m not sure that’s what Nat had in mind.”

“I don’t know,” Jasper said softly.  “That sounded really good to me.”

Clint sat back with a humourless, broken laugh.  “Shit, Jasper.”

“Yeah,” Jasper said.  “I’m going to bring him back to you, Clint.  You don’t have to believe me.  I’m going to do it anyway.  I _promise_.”

The sounds Clint made at Jasper’s words were almost a sob.  Pushing himself to his feet, he moved towards the door without looking at Jasper and Jasper really hoped telling Clint was the right thing to do.  In the doorway, Clint paused and turned back.  “Jasper, I… thanks,” he said.

Jasper nodded.  He stared at the empty doorway for a long time after Clint left, before he gathered his thoughts together again.  Whatever happened, whatever he and Melinda found at the research base, he was going to do it, because if there was even a tiny chance Jasper could fix things, he was going to take it.

And screw anyone who got in his way.

*~*

Jasper eyed the small research base spread out below and tried to figure out how was the best way to do this.  He and Melinda could wait until nightfall and sneak in, but even though it was small, it was still a SHIELD facility and therefore pretty damn hard to break into; not to mention that despite his skills, Jasper knew he was no Hawkeye or Black Widow.  There was really only one option, because now that he was here, Jasper didn’t want to wait or sneak or slide in unnoticed.

“So we’re going in the front gate, metaphorical guns blazing?” Melinda said from beside him.

Arching an eyebrow at her, Jasper tried to figure out how the hell Melinda always knew what he was going to do, particularly since this time, he’d only come to his decision about three seconds before she’d spoken.  “Yeah,” he said.  “Are you sure you want to come with me?”

Melinda flashed him a small smile.  “Would I be here if I wasn’t?” she said.

Jasper felt a rush of gratitude.  “Thanks,” he said.

Gathering up his resolve, Jasper slid on his sunglasses and climbed back into the car.  Melinda did the same and with a deep breath, Jasper attempted to channel the same kind of _do not fuck with me_ attitude that Phil had perfected to get him into places he wasn’t supposed to be.  Surprisingly, Jasper and Melinda got through the check point and into the elevator heading down to the lower levels without being challenged.  None of the other agents even found it weird when Jasper started asking questions, trying to figure out where Phil was without actually coming right out and asking in so many words.  He wondered if Fury had somehow anticipated this, or if SHIELD agents had a gap in their training that meant they didn’t actually see a threat if someone was asking them polite questions.

“Deep breath, Jasper,” Melinda said quietly, a few seconds before the elevator doors opened on the restricted level.

Straightening his shoulders, Jasper put on a hard expression and became the badass agent Phil Coulson had trained him how to be.  “You!” he barked, pointing at the nearest agent.

The poor woman jumped and almost dropping the files and the coffee cup she was holding, before she blinked at him in surprise.  “Yes, sir?” she asked hesitantly.

Jasper frowned, because really, SHIELD agents should be made of sterner stuff.  “Which way to room B-403?” he snapped.

“Uh, down the corridor and to your left, sir,” the woman said, pointing.

Nodding his thanks, Jasper turned to the rest of the agents who seemed to have stopped whatever they were doing and gathered directly in his path.  Arching an eyebrow, he glared them down.  “Move!” he barked.

The agents scattered like rats deserting a sinking ship.  Jasper had to admit, he was probably yelling a bit too loud and angrily, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care.  _Phil_ was just down that corridor.

 _Alive_.

And that made Jasper pretty damn pissed after spending the last month thinking he was dead.

His temper carried Jasper right along until he turned the corridor to the left and almost stopped dead in his tracks.  He would have if Melinda hadn’t been behind him and gave him a shove forward and out of the prying eyes of the junior agents behind them.  Director Fury looked just as surprised to see Jasper as Jasper was to see him and for a moment, they just sort of stared at each other.  Finally, Jasper cleared his throat.  “Sir,” he said with a nod.

“Agent Sitwell,” Fury greeted levelly.  “Agent May.”

Then Fury seemed to sigh and deflate a little, suddenly looking completely exhausted.  “I should have expected someone to turn up sooner or later,” he said.  “I figured it would probably be Tony Stark and JARVIS first, but I shouldn’t have underestimated you, Jasper.”

“No,” Jasper said flatly because he was apparently still pissed at being kept in the dark.  “You shouldn’t have.”

Fury sighed again, a faint trace of amusement in his face for a second, before it turned grave.  He nodded to the thick glass window behind him.  “It’s not good news,” he said quietly, the sadness and grief clear in his voice.  “Phil’s not in good shape.  It’s been a month and he still hasn’t woken up and no one can tell me why.”

Stepping up to the window, Jasper stifled a gasp as he took his first look at Phil since the invasion.  There was a single hospital bed in the middle of the room behind, equipment humming all around it.  Jasper could see Phil lying in the bed, his skin white and his frame almost frail looking, various tubes and IVs sticking out of his arms and chest.  The longer Jasper stared, the more _wrong_ it all looked.  For all his patience and calm, Phil was a man of action.  To see him appearing so still and small wasn’t something Jasper had ever expected and he felt something clench around his heart.  “Shit,” he breathed.

Fury settled quietly at the window beside him, even as Melinda moved closer to Jasper’s other side.  Jasper felt her hesitant fingers brushing against his and gratefully curled around his hand around hers and held on.  “I’ve authorised everything I can that the doctors and the researchers think will help,” Fury said.  “The prognosis isn’t… hopeful.  It’s why I didn’t tell anyone.”

Jasper turned to look at the Director for a moment and for the first time he wondered just how long Fury had been carrying the burden of worry and grief all alone.  Turning his eyes back to Phil’s too-still figure, Jasper found himself remembering the haunted, broken look in Clint’s eyes and the way the archer had been trying so hard not to just fall apart.  “You should have told Clint and Natasha,” he said firmly.

“Really?” Fury said and even without looking at him, Jasper knew the Director’s expression had gone hard and sharp.

“Yes,” Jasper said, turning to glare back at him, taking strength from the fact Melinda’s hand was still curled around his in support.  “If Phil was awake, he would be telling you exactly the same thing and you know it.”

Fury sighed and sort of deflated a little again, a wry smile on his face even as he closed his eye for a second.  “Maybe,” he said, fixing that sharp gaze on Jasper again.  “But can you really tell me that you’re _certain_ Barton could have dealt with this kind of news after everything he’s been through?  There is no guarantee Phil will ever wake up, or even that it’s Phil in there.  After Loki… how could I put Barton through all of this as well?”

Jasper swallowed and hoped Clint would forgive him for betraying a confidence.  “Clint’s been in love with Phil for years,” he said quietly.  “Thinking Phil’s dead and that he never got a chance to tell Phil everything or even say goodbye is slowly killing him, sir.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Fury swore, low and harsh.  “I swear to you Jasper, _I did not know_.”

“It’s okay, sir,” Jasper replied.  “Clint played those cards pretty close to his chest.  I don’t even think Phil caught a hint of it.  Phil’s damn hard to read on a good day and I always figured if Clint couldn’t see it, it wasn’t there.  He was happy to settle for friendship, you know?”

The chuckle Fury gave at that was neither warm nor happy sounding.  Jasper watched as Fury turned his head to watch Phil for a long moment, muttering something under his breath with a bad feeling of premonition.  “Oh, _shit_ ,” he said.

“What?” Melinda asked quietly.

“Phil was… _is_ in love with Clint too,” Jasper said, connecting the dots.

“Yes,” Fury said.  “He is.”

Jasper sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “Well, then,” he said.  “We’re just going to have to find a way to fix this whole mess.”

“And how do you plan on doing that, Agent Sitwell?” Fury asked, but Jasper could hear the curiosity and hope in his voice.

“I have absolutely no idea, sir, but I’m working on it,” Jasper said.  “Phil wouldn’t give up, so I’m sure as hell not going to.”

Fury let out a slow breath of his own and straightened his shoulders.  “The Avengers are going to be a problem,” he said.  “It’s inevitable that they’re going to find out that Phil’s still alive and when they do, there will be hell to pay.”

Jasper nodded.  It was true.  Stark in particular was going to be a pain in everyone’s ass.  “Let me worry about the Avengers, sir,” he said.  “If they decide to play the guilt card when they find out, well… I have a few things to say about _that_.”

Raising an eyebrow, Fury turned an impressed expression on Jasper.  “Done,” he said, before his tone turned dry.  “Do you have any other demands?”

“Yes,” Jasper said.  “I want access to this base.  I _will_ be back and if you lock me out, I’m just going to break in.  And you need to tell Clint and Natasha the truth.”

Fury nodded.  “I will,” he said quietly.  “I’ll also make sure both you and Agent May have access from today and Barton and Romanoff as well, as soon I tell them.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jasper said with a nod, before he turned, intending to hunt down Phil’s medical team and question them until he figured out what was wrong with his best friend – and then how the hell they were going to fix it.

“There’s just one other thing you need,” Fury said, stopping him.

“And what’s that, sir?” Jasper asked, his face blank and his eyes narrowed.

Fury’s lips curved into a genuine smile.  “A promotion.  Welcome to Level 7, Agent Sitwell.”

*~*


	2. Chapter 2

Jasper tried not to scowl as he walked onto the Helicarrier bridge and had a moment of longing for a decent cup of coffee, but he hadn’t had time to grab one before his summons.  He also knew better than to turn up to a meeting with Maria Hill holding a cup of coffee without enough to share, because he was pretty sure that was written down in a manual somewhere.  Maria was prone to making people’s lives _hell_ when they had coffee and she didn’t.  Looking up, Jasper found the woman in question glaring at him with a faint frown on her face and he arched an eyebrow back at her.  Maria rolled her eyes and jerked her head towards one of the small meeting rooms to the side of the bridge rather than the large table Fury usually used.

It made sense.  Jasper was pretty sure Fury would be pissed at both of them if any of the junior agents overheard the coming conversation.

For a moment, he let his eyes move over the controlled chaos of Helicarrier.  They were currently limited to floating around on the ocean as the large engines were permanently repaired and the ‘carrier underwent upgrades to all its systems; Jasper knew that Clint was indirectly helping with that to help stop even a highly-skilled agent being able to take the ‘carrier out again.

“So,” Maria said as soon as there was a door between them and any eavesdropping junior agents.  “I got a very interesting memo this morning.  A memo only for agents with level seven clearance.  Is there something you want to tell me, Jasper?”

Jasper shrugged.  “I got promoted?” he said.

Maria glared at him and Jasper gave in, because Maria had been Phil’s friend too.  Most of the senior agents were, because by the time they’d survived long enough to get that kind of clearance level, they’d all bled all over each other at least once.  “Phil’s alive,” Jasper said bluntly, because that was always the way Maria preferred to hear bad news.  “Technically.  He’s in some sort of coma and all the doctors and researchers Fury has working on it are stumped.”

There was silence for a long minute as Maria absorbed his words.  Jasper watched her stare unseeing at the bridge beyond the glass-walled meeting room they were in, before she walked over to a chair and sat down.  “Do Barton and Natasha know yet?” she asked quietly.

Jasper nodded.  “Fury told them in person this morning.”

“Good,” Maria said.  “That’s… something, at least.”  She flashed Jasper a wry smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.  “Part of me was really hoping that one day Coulson would just walk through the door, coffee in hand, like nothing had happened.”

“He still might do that,” Jasper told her and shrugged at her piercing look.  “I’m working on it.”

“I might be able to help you with that,” Maria said.  She tapped a few buttons on the center console on the desk and a holographic display appeared.  Jasper hummed thoughtfully, because that was new.  “One of our science teams picked up some readings just outside of Albuquerque yesterday,” Maria continued.  “Since the Director says you’re now the go-to person for the Avengers, I thought you might want to go see if this was Thor turning up again.”

Eyes on the hologram as he scanned the readings and information, Jasper nodded.  “You think it was an attempt to reconnect the… what did Thor call it?  The Bifrost?” he said.

Maria nodded.  “Yes,” she said, “because if this is him attempting to bring the Tesseract back to Earth, I will kick his ass myself.”

“You and me both,” Jasper agreed.  Then he glanced at her tense expression.  “World Security Council problems?”

“When are they not being problematic?” Maria said archly.  “Things are still pretty tense.  It’s one of the reasons Fury and I don’t want to bring the Avengers back together unless there’s no other options.”

Jasper stifled a curse.  The WSC was always causing problems and while Jasper agreed that SHIELD needed oversight, he still didn’t understand why it had to be that bunch of assholes.  Before he could say anything else or take his leave to start heading to New Mexico, there was a sharp knock at the door and they were interrupted by a junior agents.  “Sorry, ma’am, sir,” she said.  “We’re picking up readings that suggest we have an Asgardian arrival.”

“Where?” Maria said, her eyes going sharp.

“Uh, New York, ma’am,” the junior agent said.

“Let me guess,” Jasper said dryly.  “The coordinates match up with the location of Stark Tower exactly.”

The junior agent looked surprised.  “Yes, sir,” she said.

Jasper sighed and shared a look of resigned amusement with Maria.  “Well, I guess I know where I’m going then,” he said.

“Good luck,” Maria called after him with a smirk.

*~*

“I hear you need a pilot.”

Jasper turned as Melinda fell into step beside him with a small smile as he headed off the bridge and towards the flight deck.  “I didn’t know you were on the ‘carrier,” he said, surprised.

Melinda shrugged.  “You want me to fly you somewhere or not, Jasper?” she said, but from the amusement in her eyes, Jasper guessed she was just giving him shit again.

“I’m heading to Stark Tower,” he said.  “I’m not sure…”

“It’s got a helipad, doesn’t it?” Melinda interrupted and Jasper blinked at her in surprise as she shrugged, a little self-consciously.  “If it’s got a helipad I can land on it.”

“Damn,” Jasper said with a grin.  “Just when I think you can’t get any more badass, you go and say something like that.”

Melinda rolled her eyes and scoffed as she bumped her shoulder with his, but all the same, Jasper caught the faint blush on her cheeks as she glanced away.  “Come on,” she said.  “We’re wasting time.”

The flight from the ‘carrier to New York didn’t take that long and true to her word, Melinda landed the quinjet they’d taken right on Stark’s helipad with barely a jolt.  Jasper shot her an impressed grin and he could have sworn Melinda rolled her eyes behind her aviators, but there was a faint blush on her cheeks again too.  Jasper was beginning to suspect that meant something, something that made his stomach feel funny and his chest warm, but he wasn’t thinking about that right now.  He had Avengers to corral, a tower to break into and a best friend to wake up first.

Straightening his jacket, he gave Melinda a nod and walked out of the quinjet towards the roof access and hopefully Stark’s penthouse.  Jasper knew that gaining entry would actually be the hard part, because Stark Tower had more security than even SHIELD headquarters, as well as a highly intelligent AI running the place.  Jasper had two things going in his favour, though:  one, he was determined not to let _anything_ stand in his way, not Stark, not Pepper Potts and definitely not Stark’s AI, and two, he was Phil Coulson’s best friend and Phil had given a few tips about getting into Stark Tower.  Jasper cleared his throat as he came to stand in front of the glass door leading into what looked like Stark’s living room.  At least he presumed it was a living room – he had no idea what the average billionaire’s penthouse looked like, because for all Jasper knew, Stark could have had seven living rooms.  He couldn’t see any sign of people inside, but Jasper didn’t think for a second that Stark didn’t know he was there.

“JARVIS,” he said carefully.  “My name is Agent Jasper Sitwell of SHIELD.  I need you to let me in.”

“I’m afraid I cannot do that, sir,” a British-accented voice said.

Jasper took a deep breath.  He didn’t want to resort to the small EMP device he had in his pocket, but he would if he had to.  “I need to talk to Thor,” he said.  “It’s a matter of life and death and just to be fair and warn you, JARVIS, I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

“I would not recommend attempting to breach the Tower, sir,” JARVIS said.  “I have security protocols and I would prefer not to harm you.”

Since he was pretty sure JARVIS would win if Jasper tried anything and he really didn’t want to resort to sending him offline with EMP, so Jasper pulled out the metaphorical big guns instead.  “JARVIS, I want to tell you something,” he said.  “Agent Phil Coulson was… _is_ my best friend and right now, you are standing between me and saving his life.  So I’m going to ask again:  will you let me in?”

JARVIS was silent for a second, which Jasper was pretty sure was a long time for a supercomputer built by Stark.  “Sir, Agent Phil Coulson was killed during the Invasion of New York,” JARVIS said.

“No, JARVIS, he wasn’t,” Jasper replied, deciding to hell with everything.  Phil was more important than security protocols.  “He’s alive and in some sort of magical coma.  I need Thor’s help to get to wake up.”

“Then, sir, if I can be of any assistance, please let me know,” JARVIS said quietly as the door in front of Jasper opened.

“Thank you, JARVIS,” he said, slipping off his sunglasses as he walked into Stark’s penthouse.

He was just making his way down to the lower part of the room, when the elevator behind the couch opened, revealing Tony Stark, Pepper Potts and Thor himself.  “Ha!” Stark said, pointing at Jasper.  “Security breach!  JARVIS, why is there a SHIELD agent in my Tower?”

“Mr Stark, my name is Agent Jasper Sitwell and…” Jasper began.

“No,” Stark said, turning a fairly hostile expression on Jasper.  “I’m not doing _any_ favours for SHIELD.  If Fury wants more tech, he knows my prices.”

“Tony…” Pepper Potts said.

Jasper fixed a bland expression on his face that would have done Phil proud.  “It’s just as well that I’m not actually here to talk to you, Stark, then isn’t it?” he said, a trace of anger appearing in his voice despite his best efforts.  Ignoring the billionaire, Jasper turned to Thor.  “Your Highness, I need your help.”

“No!” Stark said, but Jasper just ignored him.

Thor looked wary and considering he was still dressed in armour and a long red cape, Jasper had to admit the frown on his face was kind of intimidating.  “I am not sure of how much assistance I can be to SHIELD,” he said.  “Nor am I sure that I am willing.”

“It’s about Phil Coulson,” Jasper said bluntly and ignored Stark’s gasp and the way Pepper Pott’s face paled.  Instead, he fixed Thor with a sharp look.  “I’m willing to bet you couldn’t find any sign of Phil when you visited Valhalla or anywhere else you looked.”

“No,” Thor said.  “I did not.”

“That’s because he’s still alive,” Jasper said, softening his tone a little.  “At least, we think he is.  That’s what I need your help with.”

For a very long moment, the room was completely silent.

“What do you mean Phil Coulson is still alive?” Stark growled in a very dangerous voice, finally breaking the quiet.

Jasper turned to him and used all of his skill not to let any of the emotions storming through him show on his face.  “I mean that for the last month, Phil Coulson has been in a sort of coma no one knows the reason for – and before you say _anything_ , Stark, I shouldn’t even be telling you that much.”

“But he’s alive?” Pepper Potts asked in a tearful voice.

Turning to her, Jasper let his mask drop for a second so she could see all of his feelings on his face.  “Yes,” he said.  “And I swear that for as long as I can, I’m going to fight to make sure it stays that way.”

“Then what is it you need my assistance with?” Thor asked, his eyes radiating determination and earnestness.  “Whatever it is, as long as it is within my power, it is yours.”

Jasper nodded at the demigod.  “I need you to come with me,” he said, his brain already coming up with a plan he was pretty sure Fury wasn’t going to like.  “Stark, I need you and Dr Banner to come with me as well.  I need your expertise.”  He paused for a minute to suck in a breath and shoved the fear and worry he was feeling into the back of his mind.  “I’m really hoping that one of you will be able to tell me what’s wrong with Phil so we can _fix_ this.”

“I will accompany you,” Thor said with a solemn nod.

“Yeah,” Stark said, before he cleared his throat, his eyes bright with stubborn determination.  “Bruce and I are coming too.”

Jasper smiled gratefully, feeling calmer than he had since he’d learned that Phil was still alive.  With Stark, Thor and Dr Banner on the problem, they could do this.  “Thank you,” he said.  “We leave in twenty minutes.”

*~*

Getting into the SHIELD base was easy, even though Jasper was arriving with Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Thor.  Jasper wasn’t sure if that had something to do with his new clearance level or the way Melinda was glaring at everyone.  Not that he was complaining about it, because watching the way Melinda was making trained SHIELD agents duck their heads and refuse to make eye contact as they scurried past was the only thing keeping Jasper from punching Tony Stark in the face.  Jasper was trying to be understanding, because he _knew_ that underneath everything Tony Stark was as vulnerable as anyone else – possibly more if the rumours about his childhood were true.

However, Jasper was getting very tired of the rant Stark was directing at Fury about not being told about Phil still being alive.  He wanted to tell Stark to shut up, that Fury had been hurting and grieving over Phil as much as anyone – far more than Stark himself – but he needed Stark onside, so he kept his mouth shut.  Melinda seemed to understand that, because her fingers kept brushing the back of Jasper’s hand as they walked.

Thankfully, they reached the viewing window outside Phil’s room about thirty seconds later and Stark trailed off as he caught sight of Phil.  If it was somehow possible, Phil looked even paler and smaller than he had the last time Jasper had seen him, dwarfed by all the machines around him.  Clint was curled up in a chair next to him, one of Phil’s hands held gently in his and his eyes glued to Phil’s face.  The sight hit Jasper right in the guts, as did the faint slump to Natasha’s shoulders where she was watching over them both like a guarding sentry.

“How is he?” Jasper asked softly as he moved to stand beside Natasha.

“There has been no change in Agent Coulson’s condition,” Natasha said, her voice carefully blank in a way Jasper hadn’t heard for years.  “Clint is…” she paused and Jasper gently put his hand on her shoulder, because he could hear the thread of worry and pain she felt for her partner.  “You can see how Clint is,” she finished on a whisper.

“May I go inside to see him?” Thor said a moment later, his voice strangely subdued.

Jasper looked over at him and nodded, noting the solemn way both Stark and Dr Banner were watching Phil and Clint through the window.  Stark seemed to blink at Thor’s words and shake himself out of his daze.  “We should go talk to the medical team and the researches.  See the notes they have,” he said.

“I’ll take you to them,” Melinda said, her hand brushing Jasper’s a final time before she walked off down the corridor, clearly expecting Stark and Dr Banner to follow her.

When Jasper turned back to the window, he caught the reflection of Natasha watching him.  He glanced at her, but he couldn’t read the expression in her eyes well enough to know what it was.  She gave him a tiny, but genuine smile, before she turned back to watching Clint, Phil and Thor through the glass.  They stood in silence as Thor placed his hand on Clint’s shoulder to stop him rising from his chair, before he turned his grave eyes on Phil.  He stayed that for a long time and Jasper had no idea whether that was a good thing or not.

Finally, the demigod seemed to stir and with a nod towards Clint, he left the room and returned to where Jasper and Natasha were standing.  Jasper didn’t like the grave expression on Thor’s face, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.  “I am afraid I do not have good news,” Thor said quietly, something deeply sad in his eyes as he glanced back at Phil.  “The Son of Coul is currently somewhere beyond my abilities to bring back.”

“I’m going to want you to explain that, but I think we should go and find Stark and Dr Banner first so we can all hear it,” Jasper said.

Thor and Natasha nodded, before Natasha gestured towards Clint.  “I’ll tell Clint,” she said.  “He’ll want to hear this too.”

Both Jasper and Thor turned to watch as Natasha entered Phil’s room to gently lay her hand on the archer’s shoulder.  Clint actually jerked in surprise at the touch, which proved just how lost Clint was feeling about this; even knowing how Clint felt, Jasper hadn’t realised how much of an anchor Phil was for him until now.

“It seems to me that we should also inform the Captain of this,” Thor said and there was a thread of steel in his voice that told Jasper he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.  “Unless he is no longer part of our team?”

Jasper turned and met Thor’s eyes unflinchingly.  He could feel the power and the presence crackling around the demigod, but refused to be intimidated by it.  Phil Coulson had been his mentor as well as his friend and Jasper had learned from the best how to stare down dangerous people without letting them know he was scared.  “I’m not trying to gather the Avengers together, Your Highness,” he said.  “I’m just gathering the people who I think can help save Phil.”

“Do you not think Captain America may have an insight?” Thor said, his tone implacable.

Jasper bit back a sigh.  Fury’s good eye, save him from superheroes.  “Even if I could, I don’t know where he is,” he said flatly.

“I do,” Natasha said simply from where she stood beside Clint in the doorway to Phil’s room.

Clint gave Jasper the ghost of a smile when he glanced over.  “Hey Jasper,” he said softly, his voice rough with disuse.

“Hey Hawk,” Jasper replied.

Natasha quirked an eyebrow in Thor’s direction and Jasper could already tell from the set of the demigod’s jaw that he was going to be as difficult as possible until he got his way.  Jasper was beginning to see why Phil drank so much coffee when dealing with these assholes.  “Fury is going to have my ass,” he muttered, before nodding towards Natasha, “but yeah, okay.  Call in Captain Rogers.”  Then Jasper gave in for a moment and sighed.  “Phil owes me big for this,” he grumbled.

“You are only trying to save the Son of Coul because of a perceived debt?” Thor asked, a frown crossing his expressive face.

For a moment, all of Jasper’s suppressed emotions bubbled to the surface.  “ _No_ ,” he snapped, whirling on Thor with narrowed eyes.  “I’m saving Phil for the same reason I didn’t leave his ass in a Guatemalan prison and he rescued me in Serbia, even though he’d been shot in the shoulder.  He’s my _friend_.”

He glared down Thor for a long moment, too pissed to care that he might be challenging an alien demigod that had a hammer that could summon lightning.  “That was you in Guatemala?” Melinda asked, her voice breaking through the tense silence and Jasper tried to get his temper under control when he turned to see her standing near the corner of the corridor.

Jasper shrugged a little as she walked closer.  “I had help,” he said, motioning towards Clint.

“Two agents against an entire drug cartel?  That’s not exactly something just anyone would contemplate, let alone survive,” Melinda said, looking impressed.

For a moment, Jasper saw Clint looking a little surprised, before his sharp eyes flicked between Jasper and Melinda.  Then he smiled.  “Jasper doesn’t always look it, but he’s terrifying when he’s angry,” Clint told Melinda.  “He’s also a complete badass when he wants to be.”

Jasper cleared his throat and refused to blush.  He knew what Clint was doing.  Thankfully a few seconds later, Natasha hung up her phone after the quiet conversation she’d been having a few steps away.  “Captain Rogers should be here in two hours,” she reported.

Surprised at how fast Captain Rogers would be arriving, Jasper arched an eyebrow at Natasha.  She shrugged.  “I requested a quinjet pick him up,” she said, but Jasper knew her well enough to know that if he told her, Natasha would make new arrangements.

“Thanks,” he said with a smile.

Turning to Melinda, he opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted with a faint smile.  “Stark and Banner are going over the data now,” she said.  “I’ll take you to them.”

“Right,” Jasper nodded.  “Let’s do this.”

*~*

Two and a half hours later, Jasper was ready to slam his head against a wall – or perhaps punch Tony Stark in the face.  He was beginning to think punching Stark would make him feel better, but he doubted the other Avengers would appreciate it; except maybe for Natasha and Clint.  They looked about as tired as Jasper was with Stark’s never-ending complaints and over-the-top ego.  Thanks to Natasha’s arrangements, Captain Rogers had been shown to the lab where Stark and Banner were working as soon as he’d arrived at the base.  Stark and Rogers had promptly gotten into an argument which had surprised absolutely no one, but Jasper was a little too frustrated with both of them to break it up.  He was beginning to reconsider, however, when Stark started blaming Fury for keeping Phil’s condition from them and for once Rogers was agreeing with him.

“Shut up,” Clint growled suddenly, interrupting Stark’s rant.  Rogers and Stark turned on him in surprise, as if they hadn’t been expecting Clint’s narrow-eyed glare and obvious anger.  “You don’t get to take the high ground here, Stark,” Clint continued, pushing away from the wall he’d been leaning against and whether Clint had intended it or not, Stark actually took a step back at the movement.  “I get that you grieved for Phil when you thought he was dead and the Avengers rallied in his name and all that shit, but when it comes down to it, you don’t even know how Phil takes his coffee.”

Clint paused to take a shuddering breath and the haunted and anger look in his eye seemed to hit Stark and Rogers harder than his words.  “So don’t either of you _dare_ to think you’re the only ones who miss Phil, okay?” he said, before glancing away again.  “Fury’s been Phil’s friend for twenty years and he had to watch him _die_.  So just… stop.”

The room fell into an awkward silence at Clint’s words.

After Thor’s visit to check on Phil, Thor had explained to everyone that the reason why Phil wasn’t waking up was because his “essence no longer resided completely in his flesh”.  Clint had gone a little – understandably – crazy at that and Stark and Banner had followed his eruption with a whole lot of scientific babble that not even Jasper with his doctorate had been able to follow.  Jasper had remained mostly out of the argument, other than to get Thor to explain what he meant; apparently Thor had been able to look inside Phil to see that Phil was little more than an empty shell at this point.  Jasper wasn’t sure if he believed in souls and the afterlife or not, but he couldn’t deny that Thor’s words had been pretty damn creepy.  Stark and Banner had tried to explain that due to the effect of the Tesseract energy via Loki’s staff, Phil had been sent into some kind of limbo, but then Stark had started talking about physics on a level Jasper couldn’t follow and he’d been lost.  Jasper took comfort in the fact that Captain Rogers had been equally lost when Stark had relayed the theory to him when he’d arrived.

Jasper cleared his throat, intending to get the conversation back on topic, when something in the streaming data caught his eye.  Ignoring the suddenly questioning looks both Natasha and Melinda sent his way, Jasper walked closer to the screen Stark had been manipulating and turned it towards himself.  Tapping some of the data, he enlarged one of the streams, trying to work out why it looked so familiar.  “Hey!” Stark protested.  “Easy there, Mini Agent.  Some of us are working here.”

“Shut up, Stark,” Jasper said absently, most of his mind still on the data.  “I’m trying to figure something out.”

“And what exactly do you think you could figure out that I couldn’t?” Stark asked and Jasper wanted to roll his eyes at the ego of it.

Stark grunted a second later.  “Quiet,” Melinda told him in a dangerous voice.

“Does this data look familiar to you?” Jasper asked when he felt Clint walk up behind him to peer over his shoulder.

“Ah, no, sorry,” Clint said.  “What is it?”

“Scans of the residual energy in Phil’s room,” Jasper told him.

“The levels are dropping,” Clint said flatly.

Jasper nodded.  “Yeah,” he said, “but that’s not what I’m worried about.”

He stared at it for another long moment, ignoring Stark and Banner as he tried to work out why exactly the data looked so familiar.  The levels of energy in Phil’s room where at the wrong wavelengths and the wrong type to be some sort of background radiation, even taking Loki’s spear into account, and there was no denying the levels were dropping steadily.  Then Jasper blinked as the pieces fell together.  “New Mexico!” he said, slightly louder than he had intended.

Ignoring everyone when they turned to him, Jasper just pulled up the data they’d taken during the operation in New Mexico, just after Thor’s hammer had fallen to Earth; specifically, he brought up the readings they’d taken of the hammer itself and put them side by side with the energy readings from Phil’s room.

They were almost exactly the same.

“What about New Mexico?” Stark asked.

“I was running the science team that was studying Thor’s hammer when it fell to Earth,” Jasper explained.  “The readings we took match the readings from Phil’s room almost exactly.”

“You ran the science team?” Stark said skeptically as he moved to look at the readings on the screen Jasper had commandeered.

“Yes,” Jasper said flatly.

“I thought those readings were to do with Loki’s spear and not Thor’s hammer?” Rogers said, looking very confused.

Banner shrugged.  “We only assumed that because Agent Coulson had been stabbed with the spear,” he said, before shooting an apologetic look towards Thor.

Thor nodded at him, his expression both grave and full of grief.  “I also do not see what my hammer has to do with the Son of Coul’s condition,” he said.

Jasper blew out a sigh.  Then he looked away from the data and fixed everyone with a sharp glare.  “Thor,” he said.  “You said you had access to healing stones that can completely heal Phil’s physical injuries?”

“Indeed,” Thor agreed.  “Although, they will help little if we cannot return the Son of Coul’s spirit to his body.”

“Well, I’m not explaining to Phil why we left a giant hole in him when we didn’t have to,” Jasper said.  “He’s going to be pissed enough when he wakes up as it is.”

“When he wakes up?” Clint said sharply.

“And how are you going to do that?” Stark demanded.

“I’m not,” Jasper said.  “Thor is.”

Thor looked even more surprised than Stark did at Jasper’s pronouncement.  “I fear I do not have the abilities to…” he began.

“Maybe not,” Jasper interrupted, “but you are the only person who can wield your hammer.”  When everyone continued to stare at him in surprise and confusion, Jasper resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  “You said that Phil’s… essence, for lack of a better word, is stuck in limbo, right?  And your hammer has to draw energy from somewhere to summon the lightning you’re so fond of,” he continued.  “What if it’s the same place?  What if Phil’s stuck in whatever place the hammer draws energy from?  The readings are just too fucking similar to be coincidence.”

The room was silent as everyone absorbed Jasper’s words.  “That’s… brilliant,” Stark said finally.

“He raises a good point,” Banner agreed.

“Of course he does,” Melinda said from where she was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest and eyeing Banner and Stark like she’d have something to say about it if they disagreed with Jasper.

Jasper absolutely refused to blush.

“It also doesn’t take into account the fact that Thor has used his hammer to resurrect someone before,” Jasper added.  “I took a Norse mythology class in between all the physics at Stanford.  There’s an old myth that no one seems to be able to trace the source of about Thor, the God of Thunder, bringing a man back to life with the power of his hammer.”

Thor blinked, as if he was surprised that Jasper would know that.  “I did,” he said.  “It was through my actions on my first journey to Midgard that I led to the death of a good man and attempted to repair the damage I had caused.  It is not how the legends you quote state, though.  I used a healing stone to heal his injuries.”

Jasper frowned.  “So the hammer had nothing to do with it?”

“No, I…” Thor paused to look thoughtfully at Jasper.  “I used my hammer when the healing stone failed to restart his heart when I feared I had waited too long to heal him.”  After another thoughtful moment, Thor smiled and inclined his head towards Jasper.  “I believe I understand what you were trying to tell me,” he said.  “I am beginning to understand why the Son of Coul relies on your counsel.  I will do whatever I can to help.”

“Wait, what?  Are we really doing this?” Stark said.

“Do you have a better idea?” Jasper asked him pointedly.  “No?  Then let’s get to work.”

*~*


	3. Chapter 3

Just over an hour later, they were ready to try Jasper’s slightly insane plan.  Everything had been set up as carefully as possible and despite Stark’s continuing skepticism, both Thor and Dr Banner believed the plan had a good chance at success.  None of that, however, quieted any of Jasper’s sudden nerves.  As insane as the situation was – because really, who actually had thought Phil would end up stabbed by a crazy alien with a glowing spear? – what they were about to do was completely untested and that was Jasper’s _best friend_ in that bed.

“Breathe, Jasper,” Melinda’s voice whispered in his ear as he felt her arms wrap around him for a moment.  “Just breathe.  You can do this.”

Jasper let out a shuddering breath as everything he’d been through over the last few days crashed over him and he left himself rest against Melinda’s strength for a moment.  Then he straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath.  “Thanks,” he told Melinda with a small smile.

“Always,” Melinda said, smiling back.

Stepping into Phil’s room, Jasper glanced over everyone who’d assembled.  Stark and Banner were manning a group of computers and other instruments at the end of Phil’s bed, while almost all of Phil’s medical team were hovering around checking machines and generally looking very nervous.  Clint was back in the chair beside Phil’s bed, holding Phil’s hand in a white-knuckled grip, as if he alone could make sure Phil came back if he just didn’t let go, while Natasha kept vigil just behind him.  Thor stood on his other side, an Asgardian healing stone in one hand and his hammer in the other.  Director Fury, who had somehow caught wind of what they were attempting before Jasper could tell him, stood along the wall near the window with Captain Rogers.  Jasper himself moved up to stand by Phil’s bed, opposite Thor, where he could keep an eye on the energy readings and was more than a little grateful when he felt Melinda’s silent presence stay with him.

“Stark, shut up,” he said, before Stark could so much as open his mouth.  “If it doesn’t concern what we’re about to do, I don’t want to hear it.”

Turning his attention to everyone else, Jasper glanced at Dr Banner, Thor and the head of Phil’s medical team, before he looked at Clint.  “Are we ready for this?” he asked.

Clint looked up at Jasper and nodded once as everyone else gave a chorus of agreement around him.  Jasper held Clint’s gaze for a moment longer just to make sure Clint really meant it and then turned to Thor.  “Let’s do it,” he said.

Thor nodded gravely and held out the small stone in his hand.  The healing stone looked very small and simple for what it was supposed to do and Thor crushed it easily in one of his large hands.  The doctor hovering behind him looked unhappy with the amount of alien dust being dropped on his patient, but when the nurse was finally allowed to peel back the bandages covering Phil’s chest, everyone gasped because there was barely a mark on him anymore.  Jasper didn’t know what Phil’s chest had looked like before, but the thin, silvery scar bisecting Phil’s chest looked years old rather than so painfully recent.

“That’s…” Clint said, his voice rough and loud in the quiet.

“Yeah,” Jasper agreed.

“That was the easy bit,” Stark said from the end of the bed where he and Banner were readying their instruments.

When Thor looked to Jasper, he nodded, because ultimately Stark was right.  Healing Phil’s physical injuries _had_ been the easy part; bringing him back from whatever limbo he was in was significantly harder.  Thor gently rested a hand on Clint’s shoulder, nudging the archer’s attention away from Phil.  “You may wish to step back, Hawkeye,” he said.

Clearly reluctant, Clint shot Jasper a look before he stood, his arm sliding around Natasha’s waist as she led him back a few steps from the bed.  Jasper took a step back too, Melinda still and silent and comforting presence by his side.  When they were deemed a safe distance away, Thor carefully held his hammer over the bed and narrowed his eyes in concentration.  Jasper tuned out the stream of highly complicated scientific babble coming from Stark, and to a lesser extent, Dr Banner, as they fiddled with instruments and Stark talked to JARVIS.  The scent of ozone thickened in the air as electricity began crackling along Mjolnir and Jasper felt goosebumps erupt all over his skin.

There was a sudden spike in the energy data that sent the alarms on half of the medical equipment screeching, before abruptly everything stopped.

The sudden lack of heavy crackling energy in the air made it feel strangely empty, but the scent of ozone lingered.  The nurses bustled around, turning off machines and checking over Phil as thoroughly as they could.  “Agent Coulson’s vitals are… they’re back within normal range,” one of the nurses said, stunned.

“Energy levels are holding steady,” Dr Banner said calmly.  “Whatever Thor did seems to have worked.”

“So now what?” Clint asked, his eyes darting back to Phil’s face; whatever Thor had done, Phil still looked pale and still in his hospital bed, although thankfully not as pale as before.

“Now, Legolas,” Stark said.  “We wait.”

*~*

Jasper sighed, the data and field reports on his tablet not really holding his attention.  It had been eighteen hours since Thor had done whatever he’d tried with the hammer and despite constant reassurances from the doctor that Phil’s brain activity and vitals were all normal for someone who was unconscious – as opposed to the magical coma he’d been in for a month – Phil had yet to wake up.  Jasper, with Natasha’s help, had barely gotten Clint to leave Phil’s side long enough to eat something and take a nap in an actual bed and he’d only done it by promising to stay in Clint’s place.  Now all Jasper needed was for Phil to open those pretty blue eyes of his.

When Phil finally began to stir, Jasper grinned in absolute relief.  “I heard you groan,” he said, not bothering to hide his manic grin.  “Does this mean you’re finally awake?”

Phil groaned again and Jasper carefully helped him take a few sips of water, grateful Phil had already been unhooked from the wires and tubes and machines.  “That depends on your definition of awake,” Phil mumbled, his voice rough and scratchy.

Jasper gave a huff of laughter and refused to admit his eyes were wet with unshed tears.  “Conscious and breathing and _not dead_ , you asshole,” he said.

“Jasper?” Phil asked, sounding surprised; Jasper figured that Phil was allowed to be a little surprised he was still alive, but Jasper was still allowed to yell at him later.

It took a moment, but Phil managed to stubbornly turn his face to look at Jasper and Jasper almost smiled at Phil’s expression when he took in Jasper’s rumpled suit.  “You look like crap,” Phil said.

Jasper rolled his eyes at him, still overwhelmed by the fact that Phil was actually finally awake.  That he was _alive_ and _okay_.

Phil carefully struggled for a moment, as if he was trying to sit up.  “Will you take it easy?” Jasper snapped at him.  “Until very recently, you had a giant hole in your chest and it took the combined efforts of Asgardian magic and the Stark and Banner Brains Trust to put you back together again so don’t go and ruin all their hard work.”

“Barton…” Phil said, proving there was only one thing on his mind; Jasper should have guessed, but he sighed anyway.  “The Avengers…”

“Are _fine_ ,” Jasper said.  “And before you ask, _yes_ , that includes Clint.  Natasha got him back.  The Avengers saved New York and the rest of the planet.  We don’t have an alien overlord.  Oh, and _you’ve been in a coma for a month because you’re an idiot_.”

Phil at least had the presence of mind to look abashed at that.  “Clint’s really okay?” he said.

“Aside from worrying about your stupid ass, yeah,” Jasper said.  “He’s recovering.  You know Clint – he’s resilient as fuck.”  Pausing, Jasper settled back in his chair and smirked a little.  “I do have a question for you, though,” he said.

“Oh?” Phil asked.

“How long exactly have you been in love with Clint?” Jasper said.

The expression on Phil’s face was pretty damn comical and Jasper couldn’t help his chuckle at the way Phil’s eyes went wide and immediately went to the door, like he half expected Clint to burst in with accusations or something.  Jasper rolled his eyes.  “I never fails to amuse me that you can run multiple operations without a hitch, solve international crises and take out armed robbers with a bag of flour and yet when it comes to feelings, you’re thirteen and stupid.”

“I…” Phil began.  “How did you..?”  He seemed to be at a loss for words as he opened his mouth several times without getting any more words out.  Jasper smiled, because it was kind of amusing.  “Shit.  I really am, aren’t I?” he said finally.

“You really are,” Jasper agreed.  Reaching down, he covered Phil’s hand with his and gave it a brief squeeze.  “It’s really good to have you back, Phil.  Thanks for not dying.”  He glanced towards the door, surprised Clint had gone this long without turning up again, but taking his opportunity while he had it.  “And as blatant bribery to stop you doing something so stupid again, I’m going to tell you something.”

Pausing, Jasper leaned close so Phil would realise this was serious.  “Clint is in love with you.  Has been for _years_ ,” he said.  “Out of everything that happened to him with Loki and the Chitauri, the part that he hated the most was that he never told you.  So please, Phil, do something about that, will you?”

His message delivered, Jasper got up to push the call button for the medical team.  “I’ll tell you the rest of it later,” he said.  “Right now, you’re going to sit back and let everyone poke and prod you to make sure you’re okay and then you’re going to accept the hugs and tears and other shit from the people pacing outside waiting to see you and then, finally, after you’ve manned up and said something to Clint, I’ll brief you on anything you like.  And don’t even try to get out of your confession.  I will know.”

Phil smiled slightly.  “I promise,” he said.

*~*

Counting down in his head, Jasper kept one eye on the admittedly adorably tender scene currently playing out in Phil’s room as he waited for Stark to turn up and ruin it.  Stark seemed to have some kind of radar for when emotional moments were happening, just so he could come and crash them by being a dick.  Jasper didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but if someone messed up the confessing his two best friends were currently going after years of apparently mutual pining, Jasper was taking out knee caps.  Judging by Natasha’s expression, she’d probably help.

“Do you think we should remind them this window has no curtains?” Natasha asked after a moment.

Jasper cocked his head, watching with more than a little amusement as Phil tugged Clint almost completely onto the bed, the two of them now making out like teenagers.  “Maybe,” he replied.  “It just seems a little cruel, you know, after all the pining.”

Feeling his eyebrows shoot up as Phil stuck his hand down the back of Clint’s jeans, Jasper decided he might need to revise that statement.  “Of course, I didn’t expect Phil to suddenly do that,” he said.

Natasha snorted.  “Really?  You _didn’t_ think he’d get his hands on Clint’s ass the first chance he got?”

Jasper turned to her with an arched eyebrow.  Natasha shrugged.  “It’s a great ass,” she said.

“True,” he admitted.

Then, realising a lack of pants was imminent, Jasper thumped loudly on the window.  “Hey, keep those hands above the waist Phil!  You’re in public!  Captain America might see you!”

Clint raised his head long enough to give Jasper a very dirty look, before he returned to exploring Phil’s tonsils.  Jasper rolled his eyes, before he shared a look with Natasha.  “Well, I tried,” he said.

“You did,” she agreed.

Jasper watched them for a moment more, before he turned away, because really, there were some things he did not want to witness his best friends doing.  Apparently, Jasper had impeccable timing because he turned just in time for several people to round the corner of the corridor and head directly towards him and the window to Phil’s room.  Fury was in the lead, as usual, with a very pissed off looking Maria Hill at his shoulder and Stark trailing along behind, bitching the whole way while Captain Rogers shot him increasingly irritated looks.

Jasper bit back a groan and arched an eyebrow.  Before he could open his mouth, however, Fury beat him to it.  “We have a problem,” Fury said.

“A messy one,” Maria agreed.

“I’m assuming from Stark’s continued presence, it’s not his fault?” Jasper asked.

“Hey!” Stark protested, turning from where he’d been arguing with Rogers to glare at him.  Then his eyes flicked to the window behind Jasper and went wide.  “Holy shit.  Is Agent _naked_ in there?”

Jasper snapped his fingers in front of Stark’s face.  “Focus, Stark,” he said.

“Seriously, is no one worried about this?” Stark interrupted, waving his hands at the window again.  “I think Barton is _taking his pants off_  in there.”

Natasha turned to him with an arched eyebrow.  “Since when do you care about modesty, Stark?” she said.

“I don’t,” Stark said, “but there are innocent young Capsicles in the room.  They shouldn’t be forced to witness such depravity.”

Rogers looked irritably at Stark.  “I fought in a war, Stark.  This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen a naked guy before.”

Stark openly leered at him.  “Why, Cap, I didn’t know you were that kind of boy.”

Finally getting irritated by the bickering, Jasper let out a sharp, piercing whistle in an attempt to regain Stark’s attention and hopefully get him to shut up.  The fact that he did it just as Melinda walked in with Dr Banner and Thor was just coincidence.  “What do you need me to do, sir?” he asked, turning to Fury.

Fury smirked.  “I need the Avengers to assemble.  We have a situation and I need someone to go out into the field to coordinate with the support teams and hopefully stop Stark from blowing up the entire city of Budapest.”

“We’re going to Budapest?” Natasha said sharply.

Jasper sighed.  “And you picked me, sir?” he said dryly.  “I’m touched.  Really.”

Fury looked amused for a moment.  “Agent Hill will brief you,” he said, before his eye moved to glance over Jasper’s shoulder at the window to Phil’s room.  “Good luck getting Barton back into his pants.”

Taking a deep breath as Fury turned and left, Jasper shared a look with Maria.  Then, squaring his shoulders, he got down to business.  “Agent Hill, do we have a threat level?” he asked.

“We’re sitting at a six,” Maria said and Jasper winced because that was bad.  “We need the Avengers in the air ASAP.  I have a quinjet en route, ETA seven minutes.  The support teams are mobilising and I have agents gathering the Avengers gear.”

Jasper nodded.  “Agent Romanoff, would you please assist Agent Barton in finding his pants?” he said, before holding up a finger.  “Stark, do not say a word or I will tase you.  Contrary to your own beliefs, Iron Man is not essential to saving the planet.  We managed just fine before you got here.  Captain, please escort Dr Banner, Stark and Thor to the landing pad to wait for the quinjet.  I will brief you of the threat as soon as I know details.”

“Yes, sir,” Captain Rogers said with a nod.

Stark snorted.  “Any other orders, Napoleon?” he said.

“No,” Jasper said, before he paused.  “Actually…” He turned to Melinda, who’d been watching the whole scene with a trace of an amused smile.  “It’s not in any way an order, but as soon as I’m done saving the world, would you allow me to buy you dinner, Melinda?  As a date?”

Melinda looked surprised for a moment, before a faint blush and a pleased smile spread across her face.  “I’d love to,” she said.  Then she gave him a considering and faintly mischievous look.  “Just one thing first.”

“Oh?” Jasper asked as she walked towards him.

With a small smirk of her own, Melinda walked right up into Jasper’s space, grabbed him by the lapels of his suit jacket and kissed him.  Jasper was stunned for about half a second, before he realised the badass, competent and incredibly intelligent woman of his dreams was kissing him and kissed back.  He slid his hands around her waist to tug her closer and he opened his mouth under hers, uncaring of the fact that Maria, Stark and Captain Rogers were witnessing this, because this was Melinda.

And she was kissing him.

Groaning quietly when she pulled back, Jasper attempted to regain his vaporised thoughts as Melinda smoothed down his jacket.  They both knew he had a job to do as much as they both might wish he didn’t in that moment.  “Stay safe,” she said softly.

Jasper nodded.  “I’ll try.”

Stepping back, Jasper turned to look at Stark.  “Now we can go, Stark,” he said.

Stark looked impressed.  “Holy shit,” he said.  “You’re a _badass_.”

“You have no idea,” Jasper said with a grin.  “Now move it!”

 

The End

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [This Is Not A Jane Austen Novel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/865688) by [raiining](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raiining/pseuds/raiining)




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